Kid Icarus: Revolution
by Imperator Justinian
Summary: The world has been at peace for two years. The Underworld is defeated. Pit's life is as idyllic as he could ever hope for. One routine mission threatens to change all that.
1. Chapter 1: An Unexpected Foe

Pit yawned as he sat up in bed, stretching his arms as the golden light of morning fell onto him and awakened him. He gazed around his sparse, weapon littered room, chasing away the shadows of grogginess as another day began, before swinging out of his bed. The angel grabbed his snow-white toga off the hook it was suspended from, quickly slipping into it before walking out of his room in one of the smaller structures near the main complex. He took in the breathtaking beauty of Skyworld with all its pristine marble, organized gardens and excellent view of the sky, something that, though he had seen almost every day of his life, still managed to captivate the angel. Perhaps so many brushes with death had given him a new appreciation of life?

The angel shrugged, his wings flapping out as a result of the action, before turning to the main temple and the plaza before it. There would be plenty of time to contemplate it later.

Pit sighed contently at the thought. The simple fact of having the time to relax was not lost on him. The last two years had been peaceful, and though they had been defined by the world struggling to recover and rebuild in the wake of Hades' onslaught, and a very tense ceasefire with Viridi, it was still peace none the less. In fact; it was mid-autumn, which meant that it had been almost three years without someone trying to kill him. Again; something he could appreciate.

The brunette angel refocused his attention on the marble steps he was ascending, the late-morning sun casting his shadow across the mass of stone that seemed to gleam in the same light. Each casual step he took brought him closer to the towering structure, which was made of the same material as nearly everything else in Skyworld, and to the deity that resided within. A few centurions performing their various duties nearby gave him a wave or greeting, something he returned with a robust smile and greeting of his own before reaching the summit of the stairs. The two Centurion Knights guarding the massive arched entrance to the temple saluted their captain, and Pit gave another warm smile back. He was never much for formalities.

Entering the grandiose structure, Pit immediately came into the opulent antechamber where the massive viewing fountain was held, and the green haired goddess who was sitting at its edge and gazing into it absentmindedly, as if there was nothing better to do than exercise her 'all-seeing eye'. The angelic being wasn't too surprised, due to the truth of such an observation. There were no wars to be planned and fought, Skyworld had been rebuilt, and humanity trudged along as usual. Palutena's duties, much like his own, had been reduced to nothing more than a few mundane, daily tasks that left her with too much free time on her hands than even she knew what to do with.

And it showed.

The goddess sighed, ending her invasion of some unsuspecting person's privacy as she turned around and stood up, eying her Captain of the Guard as he strode up to her.

"Morning, Lady Palutena!" Pit greeted cheerfully, giving the deity of light an obligatory bow that hid an upbeat smile. Palutena returned the gesture with a smile of her own, stifling a chuckle in the process. The chestnut haired angel had the most peculiar way of making any room he walked into brighten up… When he wasn't charging in, weapons blazing, that was.

"Morning, Pit," with the greetings dispensed with, said angel would have usually asked the goddess about what she had planned for the day, or about the status of earth, most likely hoping for some mission or excursion to alleviate his boredom, though simple curiosity most likely had a hand in it as well. In turn, her answers were usually just the mundane opposite he hoped for each time, something that would clearly deflate him for a few seconds before he bounced back and made the best of his day. So it surprised the green haired goddess when Pit broke the usual, clockwork repetition that their morning interactions had dissolved into, by looking downwards slightly, subtly biting his lower lip in apprehension.

"Uh, Lady Palutena... I was wondering..." The heavenly being trailed off, clearly unsure whether or not he should approach his superior with the subject on his mind. Palutena just raised an eyebrow, partially in concern, partially in suspicion at Pit's unusual behavior.

"Yes, Pit?" inwardly the goddess winced, hoping her tone was not too harsh. Thankfully, Pit seemed to take no notice of the demanding inflection of her voice, but rather of the words themselves. He looked upwards again, summoning the required courage to make his request.

"Would it be okay if I visited Pittoo and Viridi today? Would it?" the angel asked eagerly, hands clenched in anticipation and eyes cast upwards to the woman. Palutena blinked at the brunette's request, mentally weighing the pros and cons. While it was true it had been a few months since he had last seen his clone and the goddess of Nature, the last time he visited the angel somehow had managed to set Viridi's temple on fire, which resulted in an equally fuming, reset bomb-happy goddess, a Captain of the Guard who returned to Skyworld with a black eye, and a narrowly averted catastrophe.

But, seeing the two also made the upbeat angel even more happy, and though both the dark angel and temperamental goddess would never admit it, both were happy to know he was still alive on some level, each for their own personal reasons.

"Well... I guess. But remember to not bring any-" the sudden warning against bringing the same item that happened to be responsible for the previous inferno was cut off abruptly by a loud noise emanating from the usually serene fountain next to Palutena. The goddess' head whipped back to the construct, her long, flowing hair flying in the opposite direction as a result of the action.

"What's wrong Lady Palutena?" while it was no secret to Pit, or anyone for that matter, that Palutena frequently abused her power as a goddess in menial ways, such as using the very viewing fountain she was peering into as a way to spy on people at random, the construct still served as a way of notifying her of any impending battles, and it was still her duty as Goddess and protector of mankind to investigate such disturbances.

"It looks like the humans are fighting each other again," she replied, her weary voice baring a slight sense of irritation. For all her boredom, her stance and tone betrayed more frustration at the development than eagerness. Something he could empathize with. Pit walked up to his goddess and joined her in gazing into the fountain, observing what appeared to be two masses standing across from each other on some inconspicuous plains. Closer examination revealed them to be two armies, looking to be only a few hundred strong each. Pit quirked an eyebrow in slight confusion.

The world and all who inhabited it, humans included, were still struggling to recover from the multitude of wars that had ravaged it. Many human settlements lay razed; their atrophying ruins serving as graveyards and gruesome monuments to the destruction. The carcass' of Aurum battleships still littered the surface in a cruel reminder of the barely thwarted invasion, and the jungle of vines and roots that had emerged in the aftermath of Viridi's Reset Bomb still stood proudly, perhaps the most powerful and constant reminder of the events from only a two years prior; an edifice of nature that could best sum up the mass destruction and sudden death that had befallen the world. So, with all those reminders of how they had quite literally escaped the clutches of death by the skin of their teeth, the captain couldn't help but wonder why humans were returning to conflict so soon. But there was no real time to dwell on the matter, as Palutena turned her gaze away from the fountain and to the chestnut-haired angel.

"Sorry Pit, but you'll have to visit them later. Right now I need you to break up that battle," The goddess tapped her golden staff on the marble, the blue orb in the center of it shining brightly consequentially. When the light died down, Pit opened his eyes and realized that she had materialized the Palutena Bow, a telltale weapon of intricate gold and blue design, into his hands. The angel looked up at her quizzically, silently asking her about the reason for the weapon.

"If push comes to shove, I want you to be able to scare away the humans. Now; there's not much time!" Pit could see out of the corner of his sapphire eyes that some of the figures that made up the armies were beginning to advance across the field, most likely beginning the battle with a skirmish. The goddess lifted her staff this time, causing a sudden light to emanate from Pit's downy wings, and she pointed it at two massive bronze doors on the other side of the temple. Responding to her heavenly powers, the doors creaked open, revealing nothing more than the open, clear sky.

Pit then ran up to the edge of the door, a familiar act, and without so much as blinking, jumped out, plummeting through the open air for a second or two before the power of flight kicked in and brought him back up, soaring through the sky. He twirled around as he rocketed through the air, savoring the feeling of the wind running through his brown locks, only for his instincts to kick in and assume a battle stance midair. He pointed the bow in various directions, expecting some volatile monster to jump out of practically nowhere and attempt to shoot him out of the sky, but the only thing that greeted him was Palutena's voice echoing through his laurel crown.

"Pit... what are you doing?" the angel blinked, dropping his arms at the question.

"Um... getting ready for the fight?" he could practically hear Palutena slap her forehead, followed by an exasperated sigh.

"They're humans Pit, not underworld monsters. And last time I checked, humans don't have wings."

"Good thing too; then I'd really be the only person who couldn't fly on his own." this time he heard crickets.

"C'mon, Lady Palutena! That was funny! It's okay to laugh."

"No, not really. And where have I heard that before?" Pit gave a noncommittal shrug before pulling off a mid-air twirl.

"Beats me," Pit flew in silence for a few seconds after that, occasionally pulling off some sort of acrobatic trick as the Power of Flight continued to propel him towards his destination. Taking a cautious glance downwards, he could make out the various greens and browns of the ground meshing together into a blur as he sped overhead, wondering how long it would take until he reached his destination. As much as he enjoyed being able to fly without getting shot at, the angel was beginning to become antsy, sapphire orbs darting around his line of sight as he looked for any possibility of an ambush or the like. When that failed to produce the result he desired, he turned to the color commentator who occasionally gave advice that was overseeing his mission.

"Lady Palutena, how much longer do we have to go?"

"Well, the Power of Flight does only last five minutes..." Pit blinked, eyebrows furrowing slightly at her wording.

"All that means is that I have five minutes until I have to land."

"Or free fall." the angel took an instinctive glance downwards.

"Relax, Pit; if you do fall I can just revive you." Pit grew an uneasy smile.

"Gee, Lady Palutena... That's really... reassuring." now he heard a chuckle.

"Anyways, it looks like you're getting close. Just let me take you in and hopefully this will be all over by lunchtime," as if on cue, the angelic being's stomach growled in agreement, before the white down protruding from his back, already covered in a soothing blue, suddenly grew brighter as his path was directed downwards.

"Speaking of lunch, Lady Palutena; what are we having today? Hamburgers? With floor ice cream?"

"You'll see..." the goddess replied with a tone that did nothing to hide her amusement. By now Pit had pierced through the cordon of white, fluffy clouds that had hidden much of the sky from the plains below, and the angel could better make out the two small amalgamations of columns and rows that made up the human armies. The moment he began his descent towards the plains, the javelins and arrows that were lazily soaring across the open field immediately stopped as the two armies saw the flying figure.

"They stopped... Maybe this will be easier th-" his hopes were cut short when the armies immediately began frantically repositioning themselves at the sight of the angel, lining up side to side as they turned around the massive wooden engines that had constituted part of their formations. Pit blinked in confusion, a sickening feeling beginning to form in his stomach at the sight, and Palutena immediately stopped his flight to prevent him from barreling into the humans below. The few seconds it took to halt his descent proved to be vital. Shouts and indiscernible commands rang out from the masses below, and the large wooden ballistae amongst the armies were immediately fired at the heavenly being floating above, unleashing a shower of large bolts skywards.

"W-What's going on!?" he barely had time to ask the obvious as he twisted to avoid the barrage of oversized arrows, splitting the bow in his hands into two blades and slashing out at the ones that got too close.

"I don't know, but I'm pulling you out of there!" the urgency in Palutena's voice was enough to convince Pit of the severity of the situation, but before she could withdraw the angel with her divine powers, one of the bolts managed to land in Pit's uncovered leg. He screamed out in agony, lowering his guard, and allowing another projectile to sail through his wings. The angel plummeted downwards in a spectacular spiral, shouting out in a mixture of pain and confusion all the way as the fusillade of arrows came to a halt, the warriors rushing forward towards the falling angel. Pit heard Palutena grunt in frustration, at what, he was unaware of, though it undoubtedly meant trouble for him, and the angel suddenly felt another burst of energy coming from his wings.

His descent came to a halt as he rocketed forward across the plains, away from the humans as the Power of Flight coursed through his body, quickly recreating a gap between himself and the army before barreling towards a distant gully.

"I thought you were going to extract me!" the angel screamed out, his voice shaky as he blew across the terrain.

"I can't get a good lock on you when you're falling like that!" his Goddess' voice retorted, filled with a strange mixture of concern and maternal chiding. "I'll maneuver you into that ravine and get you out then."

"It's never that easy..." he muttered bitterly.

"Relax, Pit; they're only humans." Palutena's words would have been far more reassuring if she had more than an ounce of confidence in her voice.

"Well, Lady Palutena, you don't have an arrow sticking out of your leg!" despite his complaints, both the pain and damage were far less crippling than it would have been to a simple human, but that still did not change the entirely unpleasant sensation.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of that when you're back in Skyworld. Let's just focus on reaching the ravine for now," Her voice, as kind as it was, left no room to argue. It was not long before the wide open plains began to descend into the twisted gorge, and Pit, with his wings beginning to change from a vibrant blue to a blazing orange, was placed unceremoniously in one of the chasms. He slumped against the rock wall, letting out a pained sigh, before looking up at the clear sky. He stared at it for a few long seconds, waiting for a ray of golden light to descend and envelop him, transporting him back to Skyworld and away from this trap, but it never came. Now even more unnerved, he scratched the back of his head, ruffling his fingers through his mess of chocolate hair.

"Uh, Lady Palutena, aren't you going to extract me?"

"I'm trying to!" she shot back, her voice a mixture of concern and frustration.

"Trying!?" Pit heard a defeated sigh echo through his head, which only served to unnerve him even more.

"Something's blocking me..." before Pit could ask the obvious, Palutena cut off with another command. "Hold on; let me try something."

A second later an apple, large and red, materialized next to the angel.

"It looks like I can still send you food, but can't pull you out..." the angel was too busy devouring the fruit whole to comment. "It appears to be some kind of energy field that's interfering with my powers."

"So can't we just use the Power of Flight to get out of it?" the hope in his voice was quickly deflated.

"I wish it was that easy, Pit, but the Power of Flight has almost run out. You know it takes a few hours to recharge, and by the time I got you out of the radius your wings will have burned up." Pit let out an involuntary shudder at the mention of that.

"Whatever's doing this is definitely man-made, and it looks like it's coming from the human's camp," the angel's sapphire eyes went wide at hearing that.

"Wait; so you're telling me I need to fight through an army of people who are trying to kill me just to destroy one thing that I don't even know looks like?"

"Well, it wouldn't be that far a stretch from your usual missions…" Pit's fist clenched and he stared skywards once again.

"But they're humans, Lady Palutena. We're supposed to protect them!"

"Just disarm them. I thi- Looks like you have company," her comment was quickly followed by the echoing cacophony of horseshoes against dirt. Pit poked his head out from the crevice he had been planted in and saw a detachment of cavalry galloping across the plains and descending into the ravine, no doubt on the hunt for him if they were not already aware of his location. The heavenly being spared a glance at the projectile still protruding from his leg. Biting his bottom lip to keep from screaming, he grabbed the shaft of the arrow and broke it from the head, electing a muffled cry before tossing it into the rocks, quickly grabbing the Palutena Bow and doing his best to ignore the bloody wound. He poked his head out again, bow lowered slightly, to see about a dozen or so horsemen in a pell-mell of metal and leather armor getting off their horses and lining up on the rocky base of the gorge.

"Spread out and search the area!" Pit took the opportunity to reach down, pick up a small stone, and swiftly chuck it across the ravine, landing some good distance away. The noise attracted the attention of the soldiers, who, with swords raised and spears lowered, immediately charged in the direction that he had sent the rock. He quickly left his hiding spot, immediately noticing that three soldiers remained by the horses. He closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath in preparation, and shot forward as best as his leg would permit him. The sudden sound of his sandals hitting the dirt beneath him drew the attention of the three, and, after a brief moment of terror overtaking them at the sight of the angel, they raised their own weapons and charged him. One, wielding a spear, attempted to impale him with a half-hearted thrust. Pit sidestepped the attack, ducking to avoid the blade of one of the other soldiers, splitting his bow into two blades in the process, and chopped the head off the spear before ramming the butt of the spare blade into the attacker's unprotected chin.

He then spun his entire body around, using his legs to swipe the footing out from another one of the soldiers who was about to bury his sword in the angel's back, before rolling back upwards in time to lock his blades with the sword of the third. Pit pushed the deadlock upwards and kneed the soldier with his good leg, causing him to hunch over and drop his sword in pain. Pit slammed the blunt end of his partitioned bow into his jaw, slamming the man into the ground, before spinning around to deflect another slash from the recovered guard. He angled his blades sideways and then pulled, forcing the weapon out of his opponent's hand, before delivering a powerful kick to the face that knocked him down too. With the three soldiers disarmed and unconscious, the angel turned to the horses they were guarding.

"Well, it's easier than walking."

* * *

"Lady Palutena? When did the humans get the time to build that?" the object in question happened to be a small, makeshift wooden fort that now occupied the part of the plains where the mock battle had taken place, complete with unstable looking watchtowers and a series of logs tied together with rope that barely passed off as walls.

"They are resourceful..."

"You're telling me..." he muttered, taking a glance at his leg before looking back up at the walls. "So you're certain that whatever's interfering with your powers is in there?"

"Yes. And you'll have to move quickly; I think you've been spotted." of course; a lone rider in the middle of a vast plain with white wings sprouting from his back, who happened to be bouncing up and down in the saddle due to his inexperience with riding horses, was not exactly the definition of stealthy to begin with. The few guardsmen in front of the opening to the fort immediately began scurrying about as the watchmen in the rickety towers began shouting, more troops quickly pouring out of the fort. The ballistae that had shot him out of the sky earlier, along with a division of archers, were quickly lined up in front of the fort and directly in Pit's path. A few shouts rang out from the assembly, and immediately another shower of arrows and bolts were released in his direction. He stopped his steed abruptly in the face of the barrage, launching himself off the animal in the process, and tumbled across the field with a series of pained exclamations.

He quickly recovered and split the gold and blue bow once again, dodging and slashing in a frantic frenzy to avoid getting hit again. When the fusillade finally died down, and the humans began to reload, Pit reassembled the bow, summoned an arrow of light, and unleashed it on one of the wooden machines. It went straight through, dissipating as it hit the wall behind it, and causing the oversized crossbow to collapse. Pit quickly repeated the process on the other engines, and his mortal opponents quickly deduced that they would only be able to get so far with arrows. The columns of archers quickly parted down the center, letting a mob of infantry behind it pour through as they charged towards the angel.

Pit fired off a few warning shots above their heads, hoping to dissuade them from attacking, but they merely ignored the arrows and continued onwards, weapons pointed towards the heavenly being in white. Pit sighed in resignation, parting his bow and shoving aside all complaints coming from his injury, charged forward to meet the approaching mass. He quickly stepped to the side as one of the foremost soldiers tried to skewer him with his spear, reducing it to nothing more than a stick with a flick of his wrist in the process, before raising the other blade to block an overhead strike from an adjacent axman. He delivered a swift kick to the spearman's knees, quickly twisting himself out of the deadlock and maneuvering deeper into the swarm of soldiers. He narrowly avoided a swipe to the neck, trading decapitation for a shallow cut to his unprotected shoulder, before swinging his blade upwards and knocking the sword out of his latest opponents hand. He had to duck to avoid another swipe to the head, only to quickly roll out of the way to avoid being impaled by a spear.

"Lady Palutena! I could really use some help right now!" he shouted as he chopped up another spear before back-kicking a swordsman in the gut.

"Charging straight into the humans wasn't exactly the best idea, Pit," she chided, causing him to open his mouth to protest before quickly shutting it after getting nicked by a falling axe. "But I think I have something to get you out of this. Hold on."

Moments after she said that, Pit had managed to get himself out of the center of the crowd, knocking out or rendering defenseless the nearest humans. The remaining soldiers, still numbering in the dozens, raised their weapons to continue their assault only to stop in their tracks as something behind the angel caught their eyes. He quickly spared a glance over his shoulder, golden blades raised in a defensive position, and saw what appeared to be a series of large, golden rings interwoven into the shape of a sphere slowly floating down to the ground. Due to Palutena's heavenly powers, however, all the humans saw was a pile of useless rocks slowly descending from the sky. Utterly baffled by the sight, they merely gawked in frozen silence for a few moments until Pit hopped in the heavenly device, floating in the center of it and causing it to slightly hover off the ground.

"An Aether ring! Thanks, Lady Palutena!" his comment shook the warriors out of the reverie, and despite being both confused by the sight, they charged and immediately surrounded the device. One slammed his sword into the machine, eliciting a loud clang, which knocked it into some of the soldiers behind it. That in turn caused it to bounce off them, almost like a pinball, and slam back into the human who sent it spinning in the first place. It knocked him and the nearby soldiers down with a violent force, and the device bounced off once more, spinning around rapidly while the remaining soldiers immediately broke rank and attempted to escape what they saw as a massive heap of rocks barreling towards them, only to get mowed down. When all was said and done, and a very dizzy and slightly nauseous Pit jumped out of the device, all the soldiers were either unconscious around him, or had routed and fled back into the makeshift fort along with the archers.

"Not exactly what I hand planned in mind, but I guess that works," Pit heard Palutena's voice echo through his head, but he was too busy wobbling around the field in an effort to not to throw up to respond. Finally, with a deep breath, he managed to shove away the unpleasant sensation and take a solid step forward towards the encampment. After shaking off the last off the stupor with a certain vigor, only spurred on further by Palutena informing her Captain of the Guard that the patrols sent out to search for him were on their way back, and charged into the unbarred camp. Spinning around after entering, he shot out the shaky legs from the two unoccupied towers, watching them fall and barricade the open entrance with a pile of rubble. He then turned back to the small fort, quickly taking the path that Palutena pointed him down to go deeper into the makeshift structure.

Quickly and deftly knocking out the few soldiers who were still brave enough to attempt to kill him, the angel quickly turned a sharp corner and found a line of archers awaiting him at the intersection that led into the heart of the fortification. The officer on the end of the line, distinguishable by his complete suit of armor, gave the order to fire in a quick shout, and the soldiers next to him shakily raised their bows before firing as fast as they could in an ad hoc manner, giving Pit enough time to sidestep the projectiles and slice the ones that got too close for comfort. Knowing that the angel would be able to close the distance before they could unleash another volley, and realizing they were practically defenseless to any sort of melee, in addition to the futility of attempting to stop the chocolate-haired boy, the remaining humans quickly broke rank and fled in the opposite direction. Pit dashed into the inner makeshift keep, finding himself staring up at a wooden gate, made in the same shaky fashion as the walls that kept him out of what he assumed was the command center.

Splitting apart his bow and slashing at the ropes binding the logs together, the angel mustered all the strength he had and delivered a kick to the gate, sending wood and chopped rope across the entrance to the command center. Pit charged into the enclosure, surrounded on all sides by wood and containing a table made out of boxes in the middle. His sapphire eyes fell on the enemy commander, discernible by his slightly more ornate armor and sword, who stood by a metallic device that stuck out like sore thumb in the maze of wood that surrounded it. He raised one of the two blades that made up the gold and blue bow, pointing it at the man accusatorily with a fire in his eyes that made the few soldiers nearby reconsider swarming him.

"Why are you doing this?" his demand was met with a dismissive snarl from the man.

"We need not justify ourselves to a murderer," Pit blinked at that, raising an eyebrow and taking a small step back in shock from the accusation.

"Murderer!?" the commander's scowl deepened further at the angel's half-exclamation, his grip tightening on his blade.

"Are our lives so insignificant to you that you do not even consider slaughtering us murder!? ATTACK!" with what little pretenses of negotiation torn to shreds, the humans charged at the angel standing in the broken doorway. The nearest soldier, clad in mail and armed with a halberd, attempted to bring the polearm down on the angel. Pit raised one of the small, curved blades to intercept the weapon, lashing out simultaneously at another attacking human. The angel the swung his good leg out, hooking behind the halberd-armed man before sweeping his feet out from under him. Freed, he quickly spun around and slammed the hilt of the other blade into the helmet of the second attacker, only for another soldier to have closed the gap between the two and slash at him with his sword. Pit spun to avoid the attack, the metal managing to slice through the material of his toga in the process, before delivering a powerful sidekick to the man that sent him into the wooden wall.

The remaining soldiers and the commander, numbering four in total, made one final stand. Two spearmen lowered their lances and rushed forward, Pit merely twirled his blades upwards, cutting off the heads, before grabbing both of the wooden weapons and pulling with all the might he could muster. The two soldiers fell forward, and were met by a swift punch to the jaw each. Not even waiting for the two to fully slink down to the ground, Pit pushed past them to the final two. One took a large step forward and swung his axe with as much force as he could, only for the Chocolate-haired angel to duck and the weapon to become stuck in the wooden wall. Pit brought up a knee to the man's chin, knocking him down, only to have to quickly sidestep another swipe from the commander's sword.

The man simply followed up on his attack with another, quickly swiping upwards to force Pit to block, before delivering a kick to his wounded leg. It buckled out from under Pit, and he let out a pained yelp, but managed to roll out of the way of what would have been a finishing blow, slamming the end of his blade into the armored back of the man. The human stumbled forward, and Pit took the opportunity to spin around and charge him, raising his blades to meet the man's before twisting his grip and pulling, sending the weapon out of the soldier's hands and clattering a few feet away. Pit quickly delivered a jab to the face, knocking off the man's helmet, followed by a knee to the stomach that made him bend over, before finally slamming his blade into his temple. The man fell to the ground, a heavy groan escaping his lips as he futilely tried to stand back up, and Pit rejoined his blades into the Palutena bow before turning back to the device sitting behind him.

It was metallic, looking to be made of bronze, with various gears sticking out of its cubic proportion. The runes that adorned it, ones that Pit was unable to decipher, seemed to emit an earthy, eerie glow, fluctuating as the gears moved and ground within the device, generating the appearance that it was at work. Whatever it was; it was definitely what he was looking for. Without a second thought, the angel summoned another arrow of light within the heavenly weapon and unleashed it at the machine, the projectile piercing it effortlessly before it imploded and sent metallic debris across the enclosure. Pit lowered his arms, having used them to shield his face from the explosion, and turned skywards only for Palutena to beat him to the punch, a beam of golden light descending from the sky around him.

"Good job, Pit. Let's get you back and- Behind you!" the angel spun around, instinctively parting his bow and throwing the blades outwards. It was barely a second after that Pit registered what happened, as he watched the human commander, who was about to bury his sword between Pit's wings, stumble backwards before falling down to the ground. This time, though, there was no noise afterwards; just a very tense silence. Slowly, his gaze fell down to his arms, which had unconsciously fallen back to his side, and he saw the bloodstains marring the once pristine golden edges of the weapon. He then spared another glance to the body, watching in a fixated horror as the same crimson liquid began to pool around the man from two deep and wide gashes across his torso. Then Pit's sapphire orbs fell upon the man's face, morbidly noticing the look of anger and fear that was now permanently etched into his face, and the glassy, distant look in the man's eyes.

The angel shook uncontrollably at the sight. He had seen destruction, and caused an astronomical amount of it, but he had never seen death. Even in fighting Hades himself he had never truly witnessed it. He simply shot at an enemy long enough, it exploded and gave him a few hearts, and he carried on like nothing happened. That was his duty as the Captain of Palutena's Guard and the norm on the battlefield. He never had to witness the aftermath.

But now, staring down at the very loss of life he had caused, too enraptured in his thoughts and the horror to notice he was being lifted off the ground by the light or hear Palutena calling out to him, he faltered. Not only had he broken the angel's code of conduct by doing such, but had he become the very murderer the man accused him of being? The brunette couldn't stand the thought of that; of having betrayed every ideal he stood for and everything he had worked for in his entire life. Emotions flooded him like a storm, overwhelming him in a tide of confusion and doubt; he wanted to cry, to scream, to get down on his knees to beg for forgiveness and punch the ground in anger, and then cry some more. But before Pit could begin to do anything, he was gone.

* * *

The heavy doors slowly slid open, letting a small amount of light penetrate the entrance of the dark room. A lithe man, clad in blue and bronze, with a sword sheathed and strapped to his side, slowly entered the room. He got down on one knee in the entrance, allowing the light to fall on his figure while he bowed, before slowly raising his head.

"My lord, the angel escaped." there was no response. Nothing, save the synchronized, clockwork ticking that reverberated throughout the room. The man let out a sigh of relief inwardly, maintaining his stoic composition. Silence was good. Silence meant no new orders. No new orders meant that everything was going according to design. He gave another bow and quietly dismissed himself, the doors closing behind him and enshrouding the room in darkness once more.


	2. Chapter 2: Old Acquaintances

_All was a hazy, shadowy black, enshrouding his vision and direction in a smothering clout. The angel's body felt weightless to him, floating aimlessly about in the fog while he tried to look around and gather his bearings, only to no avail; the shroud around him was too thick to make out much of anything. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Pit felt himself being moved downwards at a familiar, breakneck pace, the world going by him in a blur of greys and blacks before cutting through a particularly thick haze. The captain shot out of the smokescreen, headed on a collision course with what looked like a towering maze of shadows, a bit more distinguishable than the ones he had been wrapped in earlier. The angel neared closer and closer, feeling air pressing against his frame as he rocketed towards whatever laid before him, before slowing down in preparation for a landing. Straining to squint, as it seemed that even basic motor skills were an uphill battle currently, he could make out smaller shapes amongst what looked like a maze. They, too, were much like the shifting shadows that he was now flying into, but their smaller and noticeably different shapes made them distinguishable enough from their surroundings._

 _The chocolate-haired captain felt himself crash into one of them as he landed, mechanically looking down and staring straight into the shifting, shadowy mess that barely passed as the face of whatever was now beneath him. There was some gargled noise as it squirmed desperately, clearly trying to get out from underneath him, while Pit's own mind thrashed in an attempt to regain control of himself and move away, only to be met with the same results as before. Somehow, through the numbness, the angel felt his arm move slightly, raising the weapon he now realized he had been holding to the head of the entity beneath him. Now mortified at what this was turning into, the angel pushed one last time to get his body to obey, and finally felt a sudden sensation of heaviness in the arm holding the weapon. With all his willpower pushing through what felt like an insurmountable wave of resistance, he managed to get the limb to move slightly to the side, his finger squeezing the trigger of the weapon in time to make the shot miss the intended target._

 _The angel heard it scream out in agony, something shadowy splatter against his front, and his arm went numb again. Pit's gaze rose again, seeing the other blurry figures running around frantically at what had just transpired, the angel mimicking them inwardly. Pit felt himself get off whoever he head been standing on and begin running after the others, all the while silently screaming, desperately pleading with himself for this to stop._

The captain's blue eyes shot open, inhaling sharply as he sat upright, ramrod straight, before slowly sinking backwards.

 _"A dream. Only a dream... It was just a nightmare, there's nothing to worry about..."_ Pit tried to reassure himself, even when he quickly realized the final part was a lie.

A shaky hand snaked out from underneath the thin sheet that served as his cover, going to his forehead and dabbing at the perspiration that had accumulated on his brow while he steadied his uneasy breathing. The brunette slowly sat back upright in his bed, shivering as the covers fell down slightly and the coldness of his dark bedroom provided a sudden contrast to the cold sweat he woke up in, and looked around warily. After a few moments, the sounds of his gradually steadying breathing being the only noise to echo throughout the room, Pit shivered once again.

Except, this time, it was not from the cold.

He sunk back down to his pillow, eyes shaky and thoughts frantic. There would be no rest for him that night, he realized, even as he closed his eyes.

* * *

Only a couple of days trudged by since the incident, but it felt like an eternity in limbo to the angel. Palutena had fixed his leg easily enough, leaving it to where there had been not even a scar or sign that anything had ever pierced it, but the same could not be said for Pit's psyche. He laid on top of his plain, unmade bed, head sinking into the pillow, blankly staring at the alabaster ceiling. No words were uttered, no expressions formed, the goddess sitting by his bedside did not even know if any thoughts ran through his head. He simply remained motionless; a cruel effigy of a lifeless statue that refused to move, like some strange form of penance for his perceived transgressions. A penance that had increased in severity as the days dragged on.

The green-haired woman had tried reassuring him that, despite breaking the Angel's Code of Honor, there was no need for something like this. It would have to be addressed at some point later, yes, but what happened was not his fault; the code ran on the assumption that, being their protector, the humans would not turn against the Goddess of Light or her agents. But the unprecedented has a way of occurring, and her trusted Captain of the Guard had done all he could to escape without bloodshed, ultimately being forced into a corner where, despite there being no good outcome, he was forced to pick the lesser evil. There was blame, yes, but it did not fall on the grieving, broken angel she stared down at. No; it belonged to the humans who had perpetrated the ambush and scattered soon thereafter, fleeing from her watchful eye and with them any answers as to the reason behind the senseless and futile attack.

Finally, the woman grabbed the golden staff that had been resting against the bedpost, and slowly stood, casting one last sympathetic glance to the dissonant boy, before silently leaving the small room. She needed answers, but more importantly she needed Pit back to his usual, carefree, smiling self. And the former was dependent on the latter.

* * *

"So what's this about Pit-stain being in danger?" Palutena sighed as the dark counterpart behind her finally spoke up, having been convinced easily enough to come along with her after she mentioned that Pit was in trouble, and was currently following the her as they walked through a particularly large garden that branched both to her temple and Pit's abode. She, of course, neglected to mention he was not in any physical danger, but was also aware she would have to bring it up eventually if the clone was to be of any use in helping her captain.

"Well, he's fine now," she started, immediately soliciting a slight glare from the ruby orbs of Dark Pit, but was inwardly relieved that was all he did. "Physically at least. But he's completely unresponsive after... well..."

"Well what?" Palutena sighed and motioned for the black-clad angel to take a seat on a nearby bench so she could begin relating the events of what had occurred a few days ago. He hesitantly obliged, listening disinterestedly, even yawning a few times throughout the story, but suddenly shot upright when she mentioned that cause of what had rendered Pit into his non-eggplant, near vegetative state.

"You mean to tell me that _Pit_..." the wide-eyed clone began, his voice bearing no small amount of shock, and emphasizing the name to ensure that he had not misheard it. "Killed someone!?"

The tense silence from Palutena, combined with her sudden interest in the marble tiles that made up the floor, served as the only confirmation he needed. The usually collected clone let out a heavy sigh, putting a hand to his head as the information completely sunk in. Finally, he stood up, a few pitch-black feathers from his own wings falling to the floor as a result of the action.

"Fine. I'll try to get him out of it," Palutena looked up, but rather than smile as he had expected her to, he merely received a quizzical look from the goddess. Now annoyed, he crossed his arms, his sandal tapping impatiently against the floor at the action.

"What?" she raised an eyebrow in response, her demeanor shifting into something of a crude copy of his irritation.

"That's it?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're not going to ask for anything? No snarky comments?"

"Is it really that shocking that I don't like the idea of Pit-stain being a vegetable?" Palutena shook her head in response. Now was not the time to argue.

"Please; just go help Pit," Dark Pit's hostility evaporated at her weary request. The black-clad angel crossed his arms again, donning his rough disposition once more, but relented. If she had to ask him to help, then he knew the situation was dire. He turned and immediately sprinted off in the direction of Pit's small room, the woman concernedly watching his fleeing figure until it was nothing more than a raven speck, and then took to pacing around the garden, pretending to be interested in the state of the flowers to pass the time. An eternity passed for her, in reality only a little more than fifteen minutes, before she sensed another presence nearby. Palutena spun around, her innate senses as a goddess directing her, and green eyes immediately landed on the black figure of Dark Pit staring back at her. He gave a curt nod to her and then moved to the side, letting her get a better view of the white-clad angel that had been trying to hide behind his similar frame.

Pit shifted uncomfortably when she finally placed her undivided attention on him, glancing down at his sandals and the stone beneath them. Even then, through the mess of his unruly hair, she could see his usually sparkling eyes were puffy and red, trying to compose himself in her presence while folding his hands nervously like a petulant child, wings tucking around his torso as if he was trying to hide in them. The goddess gave a quick nod in gratitude to Pit's clone; she didn't know what he did, be it anything from slapping some sense into him to just giving a more understanding ear than even she could, but Pit's current situation was an improvement and for that alone she was thankful. She slowly approached the deflated boy, Dark Pit taking a few more steps away, be it out of respect or discomfort she didn't know, or care, and gently placed an arm on the brunette's shoulder. Slowly, as if dreading what he would see, Pit raised his head.

The churning in his stomach ceased as all he was met with was a warm smile from the goddess.

"How are you feeling, Pit?" the green-haired woman's voice was warm and soft, almost like a ray of light trying to dispel the shadows of his fears.

"Not good..." he confessed, biting the bottom of his lip shortly after and sinking lower against her hand. He felt unworthy in Palutena's presence.

"But you're up, aren't you?"

"I guess..."

"So that's a start, right?" he only nodded meekly, trying to avoid her gaze by not meeting it. Her smile refused to falter even in light of his hesitation.

"Would you like to run an errand for me? I can't go long without my Captain of the Guard, you know," his head shot up at her upbeat statement, eyes wide in a relieved shock. She could see some of his usual cheeriness return to his gaze; he understood that this was her way of saying that nothing had changed. A shaky smile crept onto his face, and he tried to put as much of his usual peppiness into his voice as he could.

"Sure, Lady Palutena! Where do you need me to go?"

The green-haired goddess' smile grew a bit wider at the enthusiasm in his voice. "You remember that city that you saved from Hades?"

The angel blinked. "Oh yeah! That one by the sea, right? What about it?"

"I need you to go there and get some information," Pit seemed to deflate at her answer, opening his mouth and offering up a delayed reply.

"Information, Lady Palutena?" she only gave a nod.

"Yes; try to see what you can find out about who those humans were," the angel took a deep breath and gave a determined nod in kind. A mission was a mission, and he was not about to say anything otherwise.

"Okay, Lady Palutena. When do I go?"

"The sooner the better," Palutena's reply was quickly followed by a wave of the staff she always kept close by, and a soft burst of heavenly light enveloped him for a moment. Dark Pit, standing off to the side with his arms crossed and leaning against one of the statues adorning the garden like it was a wall, shielded his eyes while Palutena kept staring ahead. When it died down, Pit's usual stark white raiment was replaced with an old-looking sackcloth coat that obscured most of his frame. The angel's dark counterpart was the first to react.

"You look homeless," the brunette gawked at the change, and Palutena allowed a lighthearted chuckle to escape her lips.

"That's the point," her smile faded away, gaze refocusing on her Captain of the Guard. "I can't risk Pit becoming a target again. The people aren't underworld monsters, and they're certainly more intelligent."

"Then why not just ask me to go if you don't want Pit-stain being a target?" her eyes narrowed slightly, tone setting into a deadpan.

"Because your eyes are red and you practically radiate edginess," Dark Pit muttered something under his breath while Pit cleared his throat, the Goddess' of Light's features softening.

"So I guess that means no weapons, huh?" Pit commented, brushing aside the coarse fabric to scratch the back of his head. Palutena shook her head in the negative.

"No. All I need you to do is a bit of asking around. Think you can handle that?" the angel gave his goddess a determined nod.

"I won't let you down, Lady Palutena!" all three present knew that the unspoken part was 'not again'.

"All right. I'll put you down outside the city; once you find out something let me know and I'll bring you back, okay?"

"Yeah; you might want to do something about his wreath too," the goddess looked back from Dark Pit to her servant and inwardly conceded he had a point. Before Pit could react, Palutena reach out and ruffled a hand through his already messy hair, rearranging it around the object while Pit let out a few halfhearted complaints. When the woman was done, the angel's chocolate hair obscured his wreath, and he wasted no time in quickly heading into her temple. Palutena took a step forward too, but stopped, and looked back in the direction of the other angel who was still off to the side.

"Thank you, Dark Pit," the raven-haired angel had already opened his mouth, as if expecting her to say something else, but he blinked and quickly closed it again.

"Yeah, sure..." his tone lacked most of its regular edge, and he only crossed his arms and leaned back against the marble statue again. Palutena carried on into her temple.

* * *

The flight was uneventful as the last one, but it still put the angel on edge. His goddess, wordlessly, set him down a good distance away from the city in a small, isolated outcropping along the shoreline that ran across it, the scent of the fresh sea breeze immediately hitting his nostrils. Pit folded his wings against his back, fixing his coat so it could shroud his frame again, and slowly began his trek to the settlement. It was hard to tell how much time passed before he arrived, only the sounds of sand crunching underneath his sandals and the occasional chirp of seagulls flying overhead keeping him company, but he eventually worked his way into the city.

Pit took a few cursory glances around as he trekked down the paved road idly. The city, its name still a mystery to him (Palutena had not deemed it important enough to tell him what it was, and it did not concern his mission), seemed to be bigger than he remembered it, but the angel decided that was probably due to him being on the ground. He felt somewhat small in their shadows, many of the buildings towering over him, almost looking down on him with scrutiny as he passed through their streets. It was an uncomfortable feeling, similar to a specter looming over him, watching his every movement, and the angel let out a small, pent-up breath as he easily melded into the thick crowd of people in the marketplace ahead. Everyone was too busy with their daily rounds to pay particular attention to the new face, not that there was anything about him that warranted attention, as he would reassure himself, and the incognito angel found himself wondering where exactly he should begin his investigation.

Viridi had once mentioned that anything could be bought in the largest markets on earth, information too, in one of her many lectures about humanity's crimes to him. That had certainly piqued his interest, taking time to actually listen closely to her, but he was both broke and at a loss for where this particular one stood in comparison. The angel had little knowledge on the subject to rely on in discerning if this particular city's marketplace, a collage of various colored booths, swarms of people and banners, completed with stalls and wagons filled to the brim with goods of all kinds, was big enough to meet the Goddess of Nature's criteria, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to try to find out a bit more.

It quickly became apparent to the angel, though, as he looked aimlessly between the many decorated shops with their bright colors that hurt to look at for too long, he had no idea where to go. As Viridi helpfully explained when he interrupted her to ask the rather naïve question about how information could be bought, it could be usually found from shady individuals whom he should not associate himself. As if anticipating the brunette's next question, the young goddess had quickly interjected with 'and no; there is no such thing as an information booth, Pit', which had brought a swift conclusion to any further questions he might have had. And as he was at least smart enough to not go running around to random passersby, asking what they knew about so and so, that left him in a predicament. Bringing his arms out from underneath his coat and crossing them, glancing skywards and not paying particular attention to where he was walking, Pit hoped that his goddess would be able to help. She had been silent throughout most of his trek, the absence of her voice telepathically ringing through his head only making him realize how lonely he felt without it, most likely for the reasons that there was little she could do and so as to not risk blowing his cover.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed that someone was out to remedy that.

 _"Hellooo, Pitty Pat!"_ Pit scowled as the sing-song voice rang through his head, crossing his arms and lowering his head slightly.

"Hades..." his utterance contained no traces of warmth.

 _"Still not happy to hear from me, Pitty? It does get awfully lonely now that you're always cooped up in Pretty Palutena's domain, especially since I'm just a bodiless spirit without anyone else to talk to... I thought you would have cooled off by now,"_ the disembodied god's voice was a sickeningly patronizing tone that only caused Pit to sulk further.

"What do you want? I'm busy," the brunette might have destroyed Hades' material form, but, much to his chagrin, the God of the Underworld still persisted as a spirit that seemed to have made it his sole purpose in existing to bug him as much as possible. Hades' unexpected visits had increased in such frequency that Palutena, and later Viridi, had used their now-superior powers to prevent him from entering their domains.

 _"Oh, just the usual; a place of my own-"_ Pit's heavy sigh cut him off.

"I don't have time for your games, Hades," his comment was a bit louder than his previous, drawing him a few confused stares that he paid no attention too. Rather, he was too busy imagining Hades' lips curling upwards into one of his atypical amused smirks as he would so often do, silently wishing that the dethroned God of the Underworld would find someone else to torment for a few hours.

 _"And why not?"_ the specter's voice was loaded with a nauseating amount of mock innocence.

 _"Leave Pit alone, Hades,"_ Pit inwardly let out a sigh of relief as the vastly more welcome voice of his goddess rang through his head.

 _"Ah, Pretty Palutena, so good to hear from you again. You never did return any of my messages,"_ Pit was too busy imagining that familiar haughty grin on Hades' face while Palutena countered to look ahead, where a young man clad in various layers of ornate blues and golds, gazing into one particular stall, was unknowingly in the absentminded angel's path. He had picked a small item, jagged and transparent, out of the mass of objects strewn about the various boxes laid out before him, blue eyes sparkling with interest. The shopkeeper, a well-dressed man who was noticeably older, only let out a sigh at his customer's choice.

"Only you would buy a shard of glass, Arcanius," the other man looked up from his inspection of the item in question, having been gazing into his reflection prior to the merchant's tired comment.

"Well, in this economy, you'll never know what you could use," his lighthearted comment was accompanied with a friendly smile. "Besides; you were the one to put it up for sale, Avarin."

The merchant said nothing else, and Arcanius ran his empty hand through the back of his blond hair. "All right, I'll take it. How much?"

"You've always been loyal customer; two silver pieces," the man gave a nod, reaching into the blue coat that obscured much of his frame.

"Here y-" Arcanius was cut off as the disguised angel collided with him, both parties falling down. Pit quickly offered up a flurry of near-unintelligible apologies while the man went about collecting the items he dropped before they could be swallowed up by the steady stream of traffic passing them by, and when he finally looked up to the apologetic angel, both their gazes froze. The man's brow knitted, eyes narrowing slightly into a scrutinizing look with a flash of vague recognition darting across them, and Pit's breath hitched in his throat. Had his run in knocked his wreath loose? Or maybe his wings had accidentally fluttered out of instinct? Whatever the cause, he was now convinced he had been found out, not to mention having already drawn more attention to himself than he wanted to, and didn't want to stick around to find out what simple mistake had caused him to fail his goddess once again.

Pit sprang back up and quickly darted into the crowd, the two humans looking at the particular spot the boy had vanished into bewilderedly. The one in blue eventually managed to shake his head and handed the two silver coins to the merchant absentmindedly, rolling his shoulder in the process. "Kids today..."

"You might want to check your pockets," it took a few seconds for the merchant's comment to register with the dumbfounded man.

"Hm?" Arcanius quickly searched his coat, but was still transfixed straight ahead. "No, everything's there..."

The blonde's voice was as distant as his thoughts, before he finally shook his head with a tired sigh and carried on his path.

* * *

It simply wasn't his day, Pit had decided.

Fleeing into the fray of humans seemed a good idea enough, back when he thought he had blown his cover, but it quickly proved to be a mistake. He quickly collided with someone else, and that time it did knock his laurel wreath loose. That person was too busy with his everyday life to spare a second glance at the angel while he retrieved the object and fixed it back in his hair, but Pit couldn't say the same for the group of thugs that were currently chasing him through the marketplace. The angel was confident he could outrun them; even if he was armed he wouldn't dare raise his weapon against them, and even if they did somehow manage to corner him, he was certain that his goddess could simply extract him.

Once again, the brunette found out the hard way that he should have been focused on the path ahead. His sandal snagged on the edge of a rolled up rug lying by one of the booths that made up the seemingly endless sea of them, and he quickly became acquainted with the cobbled road below. Pit shot up, wincing slightly at the shallow cuts that snaked across his palms and the scrapes across his face, and shot a quick glance over his shoulder. The scraggy-looking thugs, four or five in total, had used the few precious seconds that his fall bought them to quickly close much of the distance that the angel had managed to put between them. Survival instincts kicked in, the angel springing back to his feet and hastily resuming his flight.

It was difficult to make out the irritated shouting of people he bumped into or vendors who had their goods accidentally overturned from the shouting of his pursuers and the general noise of the marketplace, but as Pit hastily wormed his way out of it and dashed down the less busy streets, it became far easier to make out that the humans were beginning to catch up. His legs were already beginning to ache from the exertion, having to constantly jump over anything that stood in his path and weave around anyone else without slowing down, breathing hitching in his throat, and the men behind him showed no signs of exhaustion. He wondered in the back of his mind if he had overestimated his own strength. A hard tug on his shoulder that nearly caused him to trip again gave him his answer.

"Gotch'ya!" Pit let out an 'oomph' while he steadied his footing, shooting an angry glance over his shoulder to the owner of the gruff voice, who was quickly joined by his compatriots.

"Who knew some overstuffed noble's son could run so fast?" the angel blinked incredulously at the comment, having been busy looking around in vain for someone else on the street, and a bout of throaty laughter came out from the group that had cornered him.

"Yeah; he'll fetch a hefty ransom, this one," they must have mistaken his laurel wreath as a diadem, he decided. And if they thought he was only some noble's son that had snuck out and not suspected him of anything else, then he could use that to his advantage. Lady Palutena was probably just waiting for them to go somewhere with less traffic before extracting him, and though he was determined to not fail her in something as mundane as a scouting mission due to something as insignificant as not looking where he was walking, he would have to find a way to get out of his gleeful captors grip. Before they could drag him away, much to his relief, a familiar voice rang out from behind them.

"All right you lot, unhand the boy; he's under _my_ protection," Pit's face lightened.

 _"Really? That's too bad,"_ the angel was too relieved at the voice to care about Hades' comment, though had he had the time, would have been somewhat surprised over his lack of commentary.

 _"Magnus!"_ sure enough, the thugs quickly spun around to face the black-clad mercenary, who only crossed his muscular arms and smirked, silently daring them to try anything. Even bereft of his massive broadsword, the massive man still cut an imposing figure, something his reputation as a swordsman no doubt bolstered. The angel's blue eyes darted to one of his captors, whose hand was nervously nearing the knife strapped to his belt, but the moment one of them ran away in terror he and his compatriots quickly followed.

"Heh, cowards," Magnus muttered as he took a step before looking down on his old comrade. "C'mon, we can talk back at my place."

Magnus' house was only a few blocks down; a modest looking building of no more than two floors that resided in the shadow of the city's acropolis. The large man roughly shoved the key into the lock and pushed the wooden door open, the hinges squeaking all the way until it was stopped by the wall, and motioned for Pit to go ahead.

"So this is where you live?" the angel asked while looking around at the sparse decorations in curiosity. The first thing that caught his eye was a small table sitting off to the side, presumably in front of the obscured kitchen, complete with four sturdy-looking chairs and a massive broadsword leaning against it, but what caused him to raise an eyebrow was the two empty cups set out on it. Was there someone else in the house?

"For now," came the mercenary's slightly muffled reply, the man having to duck to get through the doorframe. "Me and Gaol have been doing some work for the local lord."

The somewhat scruffy man carried on into the house, disappeared around a corner, and reappeared a few seconds later holding another glass filled with water. "Just a lot mundane stuff; patrolling the town, training troops, et cetera. Pay's good, though."

Pit began gulping down the drink that was handed to him, Magnus taking a seat across from him and leaning in. "So, Angel Face, why're you here? I didn't think you'd be coming down here again."

The angel blinked in response, setting down the cup before stretching his arms. "Why not?"

"Doesn't your goddess ever pay attention?" Pit heard an indignant huff from Palutena in the back of his head, along with Hade's quiet snickering and a muttered comment, but paid them no attention. Magnus couldn't hear them, and experience had taught even someone as aloof as him that carrying on a conversation with the voices in your head while around others was rude. The mercenary remained ignorant to the deity's reactions, putting a hand to his chin, and continued. "I can't say she's is the most popular person nowadays."

That piqued the angel's interest, sapphire orbs widening slightly, and he leaned forward. "But we saved mankind from Hades!"

Magnus only let out a quiet chuckle and leaned back against his chair, the furniture letting out a creak in protest. "Sure; after your little three year rampage. Most people don't know that neither you or Palutena were responsible for it, or just don't want to believe it, and want someone to blame for the body count. You disappearing after destroying Hades didn't help, either."

 _"Oh, I'd beg to differ. Watching the humans struggle to cope with all the death and destruction and fight over scraps like dogs has certainly been an entertaining little pastime. It almost makes me want to come out of retirement, as much as I enjoy just sitting back and watching,"_ at this point Pit was grateful that the raven-haired swordsman was blissfully ignorant of the two other beings present. Palutena, fortunately, was more gracious than the disembodied deity.

 _"I can't say I blame them,"_ the goddess' voice contained an amount of contriteness he seldom heard. _"The world was our battleground, and the humans had no stake in the conflict, but still paid the price."_

 _"I'll say,"_ the ghost's voice was befitting of a chiding grin. _"You and your little angel made me look lazy in comparison. I would have been jealous if I wasn't so proud."_

"Talking with your gods again, Angel Face?" Pit blinked and refocused his attention to the mercenary seated across from him, realizing he had been silently staring off into space, and looked down sheepishly as a sense of self-awareness quickly crept over him.

"But back to my question; why're you here?" The angel's head shot up.

"Right! I need some information; I was attacked a few days ago by a group of humans-" Magnus raised an eyebrow.

"A couple of humans got up there?"

"Eh, no. I came down. And it was an army," the muscular man was too busy leaning back, eyebrows furrowed and silently mulling over something, to notice the slight shakiness of Pit's voice.

"Hm..."

"Do you know something, Magnus?" the mercenary in question looked back up, sitting up straight and placing a tanned elbow on the table.

"Possibly, but I'll have to do a bit of asking around first," Pit's enthusiasm deflated for a moment, but Magnus paid it no heed. "I'll contact you and your goddess when I've found out something."

The man's face dropped seconds after, and his hand went back to his chin. "Eh, is there anything she can give me for that?"

A small, immaculately-white capsule materialized on the table seconds later. Pit smiled slightly, while Magnus picked it up cautiously, turning it over and shaking it before examining the heavenly object more closely. "What is this?"

"A Celestial Firework!" the tanned man raised an eyebrow when Pit cut himself off, the angel closing his mouth and giving a nod to no one before continuing again. "Lady Palutena says to just use that when you've found out something and she'll send me. Just pull the top off."

The brunette blinked. "Oh, and Lady Palutena says to use it away from the city."

"All right, I'll-" the sudden chiming of a clock, signaling the arrival of noon, cut off the mercenary. A look of recognition quickly flashed across Magnus' face, and he pushed himself out of the chair, the furniture skidding back against the floorboards loudly. Placing the device back on the table roughly, he reached over and grabbed the hilt of his broadsword, slinging it over his shoulder before shooting a look back at Pit. "Gotta go. You can show yourself out."

With that, Magnus was out the door, Pit only managing to blink before the tip of the mercenary's sword was gone from his sight. The angel's blue eyes glanced down at the glass still in front of him, and he gulped down the last of his water before standing with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry I couldn't find out anything, Lady Palutena."

 _"Perhaps it's for the best. Magnus can probably find out more than we can,"_ Pit knew she meant no offense, but Palutena's comment still stung slightly.

"I still didn't find out anything, though. I'm sorry, Lady-"

 _"You don't need to apologize, Pit,"_ the frown that had slowly been etching itself onto his face receded, and the angel readjusted his coat before turning to the door.

"Who do you think is behind all this, Lady Palutena? One of the other gods?" the brunette heard a drawn-out 'hm' echo through his head.

 _"Maybe. It would have to be someone who would benefit from conflict between us and the humans,"_ Hades' snickering drew both his and his goddess' attention. Pit could practically hear the woman setting her hands against her hips, accompanied by the mental image of her leaning in with narrowed eyes and a disapproving frown. _"What do you know, Hades?"_

 _"Oh, nothing much. Just that two plus two equals four, Rosebud's favorite color is green, and-"_ two groans cut off the former God of the Underworld, while the angel carried on down the street he had walked out onto, ducking into a nearby alleyway.

 _"He's not worth it, Pit,"_ the captain of her guard spared a glance over his shoulder before being enveloped in a warming, heavenly light, vanishing as it dissipated.

* * *

A wave of dizziness washed over Pit as the city around him was quickly replaced with the more familiar setting of Palutena's ornate temple, with its golden linings and marble walls that seemed to radiate an ethereal light that reminded him he was home. The sound of Palutena's heels clicking against the immaculate floors caused him to turn around, watching as she approached with a warm smile spread across her face.

"Welcome back, Pit," the angel greeted her smile by rubbing his arm and looking down.

"I'm sorry we didn't learn anything new, Lady Palutena," the goddess only chuckled lightly.

"I wouldn't say that," Pit looked up, blue eyes betraying both curiosity and a fleeting humiliation. "Hades clearly knows something, so while Magnus is looking around, we're going to do a bit of snooping on our own."

"Let me guess, Lady Palutena; the Underworld?" his voice contained no amount of enthusiasm, but she still smiled happily in response.

"Yep. So rest up, Pit, you'll have your work cut out for you tomorrow," Pit gave a respectful bow to her, mustering up the most enthusiastic smile he could to compliment it, and heavily walked out the room, silently mourning the peace that he once had. Still, it felt nice to be needed.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I'd just like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter; I never expected to get that much feedback from the opening chapter. I'd also like to apologize for how horribly late I am with this chapter; while I wanted to keep to a monthly update schedule for this story, one thing after another kept me from finishing this in July, and at this point I've starting to wonder if I should keep to a schedule to begin with. Eh, I'll come up with something. Until next chapter, I suppose.


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